The title character of DRAGON GIRL: THE SECRET VALLEY is an
eleven-year-old girl named Alanna. She and her brother are orphans from a lower
class background and are doing the best they can to survive in the medieval-type
world in which they live. Alanna's brother Hamel works as a blacksmith and in
his "free time" the two hunt and scourge the woods for game and
edibles. One day while Alanna is out in the woods while Hamel is working, she
discovers a baby dragon and a cave full of dragon eggs and discovers that
dragons aren't the horrible creatures she has been led to believe. She's
excited to share her discovery with her brother, but doesn't reveal her secret
when she realizes that he's as frightened of and seems as hateful of dragons as
most of the other people in the world. Alanna designs a dragon costume to wear
in an attempt to get close to the creature and not get burned up in the
process. Soon Alanna finds herself swept up in a journey that takes her to the
secret valley of the dragons where she learns more and more about dragons.
However, not everyone in the world is as fascinated by dragons and the famed
knight Sir Cedric follows Alanna and becomes determined not only to rid the
world of dragons, but steal the liquid treasure they seem to protect.
I enjoyed reading DRAGON GIRL: THE SECRET VALLEY. It's an
exciting story with some great black and white illustrations. Many similar
stories to DRAGON GIRL have a male protagonist and I found it interesting to
have a female protagonist instead. There are some dangerous elements in the
story, so the book might not be appropriate for children younger than five, but
it should be fine for anyone older than that. Overall, a good story for anyone
who enjoys graphic novels or dragons or graphic novels with dragons.
